Is anyone as dissatisfied With the Sony Reader Store as I am? I read presidential biographies. I recently purchased what was represented as a biography of James A. Garfield. It turned out to be a high school term paper. I contacted Sony and explained that what I got was not a book as it was represented and asked for a refund. I was told no refund under any circumstance. If this where a case of I bought a book I didn't like or something to that effect, I could understand and would accept their policy. However I feel this is a matter of deceptive marketing on their part. I will continue to pursue this with them. It is a shame to learn that a mega corporation such as Sony has a customer satisfaction policy of BUYER BEWARE.

Everything is buyer beware. It's never smart to rely solely on supposed protections offered by stores, credit cards etc. Be smart about your purchases in the first place and resort to using their help only if you absolutely need to.

I buy books from Sony & never had an issue thus far. I shop around though and check prices. Sometimes other places like Kobo, are cheaper so I buy there.

I'm curious as to which book it was you bought? Not the $0.95 one was it? Here's a copy and paste of the Overview of the book:

From Canal Boy to President or the Boyhood and Manhood of James A. Garfield
by Horatio Alger

According to Wikipedia: Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 ndash; July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author whose principal output was formulaic juvenile novels that followed the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels were hugely popular in their day. Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard at the age of 16. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following a pederastic scandal involving two teenage boys. He subsequently retired from the ministry entirely and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His empathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile [rags to riches] novels. He died in 1899. The first Alger biography was published in 1928, and later proved to be heavily fictionalized. Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century however, a few reliable biographies were published that corrected the errors and fictionalizations of the past. Many of Alger's works have been described as rags to riches stories, illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their old ghosts. Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals.

Based on that I wouldn't have bought it. It doesn't tell me anything about the book. It tells me about the author and what it does tell me would make me pass. But even then, it's only $0.95.

With such a large number of people who self-publish I think it is up to the buyer to do their research. I would never buy anything written by an author who was unknown to me without doing a bit of binging around. I also consider who published the book. I won't even consider buying a self-published book without reading a (free) chapter. The last thing, and least important to me, would be reviews.

As far as 'No Refunds, No Exceptions' I believe this is a universal policy with ebook retailers. The only possible exception would be if something was linked incorrectly and the wrong file was downloaded.

I got a refund from B&N and had to argue with a few reps to get it. The book was advertised as a book of short stories for $0.99 but it was only a single story. They even listed the table of contents so it was definitely misrepresented. If I didn't get my money back I wouldn't have bought another book from them after my gift card was used up.

I've never actually bought a book from the Sony store. When I first got my device, BooksonBoard sold the books I wanted for much less, and even since the implementation of agency pricing, I tend to buy from them as their interface is easier to use.

I don't really understand the whole I've-got-a-Sony-so-I-must-buy-from-the-Sony-store line of thought. There are tons of other places that sell books with Adobe DRM that work just fine on the Sony! (And are often easier to use, and occasionally cheaper to boot!)

As JSWolf said you will occasionally get a defective book. I bought one from Sony a few months ago that was supposed to be a few hundred pages long and about 400KB big. When it downloaded I wound up with a 40KB file that only contained the book's cover. I downloaded it again with the same results. I called the CS for Sony Reader Store and they checked the book as we talked on the phone, confirmed it was defective, and refunded my money.

My advice to buying from the Sony Reader Store (or any other store) is to check the Product Details at the bottom of the page displaying the book. Look for a publisher you can trust, make sure it has an ISBN as self-published books often don't, and look at the number of print pages. Also, go to Amazon.com and lookup the book there to verify it is a book that is in print. You will likely find more info on the book at Amazon.com including some reviews. If it looks like a good book, then buy it from the Sony Reader Store or whatever store you prefer.

Amazon has a great feature with their Kindles where you can download a sample of a book to see if you want to buy it or not. Unfortunately the Sony Reader Store does not offer that feature. However, you can install the Kindle app on your computer or many smartphones and download the samples to them. If you like what you see, then buy the epub book from the Sony Reader Store.

I've never actually bought a book from the Sony store. When I first got my device, BooksonBoard sold the books I wanted for much less, and even since the implementation of agency pricing, I tend to buy from them as their interface is easier to use.

I don't really understand the whole I've-got-a-Sony-so-I-must-buy-from-the-Sony-store line of thought. There are tons of other places that sell books with Adobe DRM that work just fine on the Sony! (And are often easier to use, and occasionally cheaper to boot!)

How would you know which was easier if you've never purchased a book from the Sony store and how much easier than ADD TO CART and CHECKOUT does it need to be?

Amazon has a great feature with their Kindles where you can download a sample of a book to see if you want to buy it or not. Unfortunately the Sony Reader Store does not offer that feature. However, you can install the Kindle app on your computer or many smartphones and download the samples to them. If you like what you see, then buy the epub book from the Sony Reader Store.

Or, another alternative is that the Barnes & Noble bookstore samples are DRM-free. I download them from the B&N store and then transfer them over to my Sony into a collection named "Samples".

How would you know which was easier if you've never purchased a book from the Sony store and how much easier than ADD TO CART and CHECKOUT does it need to be?

I have downloaded a freebie or two. I didn't pay money for it, therefore, I didn't buy anything.

When did I ever say that adding to a cart was difficult? I was referring to the overall experience of loading up an obnoxious piece of software that only works half the time, followed by sorting through an interface that's annoying and also likes to not work in order to buy a book that's probably hideously overpriced anyways. Other stores don't make me do that, Sony does. Bleh.

Amazon has a great feature with their Kindles where you can download a sample of a book to see if you want to buy it or not. Unfortunately the Sony Reader Store does not offer that feature. However, you can install the Kindle app on your computer or many smartphones and download the samples to them. If you like what you see, then buy the epub book from the Sony Reader Store.

As far as samples go, forget Amazon. Get samples from B&N. The B&N samples are DRM free ePub. Much better way to read the sample as you'll also see how it's formatted.